SERCUL ANNUAL REPORT 2017-18 CONTENTS Welcome 3 From the Chair–Pat Hart 4 From the CEO–Amy Krupa 5 SERCUL Staff and Committee 6 Achievements and Highlights 2017–18 7 Our Constitution 8 Our Projects 9 Environmental Education 10-13 Community Capacity 14-21 Landcare and Restoration 22-30 Monitoring and Research 31-33 Environmental Services 34 Auditor’s Report 35 2017-18 Financial Overview 36-37 Financial Report 38-40 Balance Sheet 38-39 Profit and Loss 40 Statement by the Management Committee 41 New Projects for 2018–19 42-43 Acknowledgement of Partnerships 44 Thank You 45 2 WELcoME Welcome to the South East Regional Centre for Urban Landcare’s (SERCUL) 2017-18 Annual Report to our stakeholders and community. SERCUL is the sub-regional Natural Resource Management (NRM) organisation that operates within the metropolitan and peri-urban areas of the Canning River Catchment. As part of the community we work with State and Federal Government agencies, Local Governments, businesses and volunteers to care for the environment and our local communities. This is done in many ways; working to improve biodiversity, protecting riverine environments, working with turf managers to sustainably improve turf best management practices, and engaging with our extensive community network to increase knowledge and skills in environmental management. We are extremely proud of this year’s achievements, which we have undertaken in partnership with the community and a range of other important project partners and stakeholders. Through these partnerships we have been working together to improve the health of our land and waterways. 3 EXECUTIVE MessAGES From the Chair - Pat Hart It is difficult to know where to begin to write this annual report. Of the 16 years that I have been Chairperson of SERCUL, I have found this year to be the most difficult. The sad demise of the Swan River Trust following its merger into the then Department of Parks and Wildlife in July 2015, reached another low point in the past 12 months when it became just a branch of the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA). The destruction of this once respected, specialist organisation has seen many fine staff with strong community connections leave or transfer to other parts of the Department. The abolition of the Swan River Trust has, in my opinion, been to the detriment of the Swan Canning system and reflected a decline in its importance for the State Government. The official rhetoric that this river system is highly valued and a State ‘icon’ is belied by the reduced State Government funding and staffing for its repair and management. This has necessitated other organisations, community groups and local government having to take on roles that should be undertaken by State Government because the work is critical for the rivers’ ongoing health and management. I can only hope that the State Government’s financial commitment to our Swan and Canning River system will return to the level that it so rightly deserves now that the State financial outlook appears to be looking positive. While SERCUL has for years received some core funding, it has not been sufficient to support all the varied roles we undertake in our sub-region. This funding deficiency now requires SERCUL to run its Environmental Services Unit as a small, not-for-profit business with its income critical for SERCUL’s financial sustainability. Over the next 12 months we need to make some major decisions about the future of SERCUL; in essence whether we can afford to deliver all the Objectives of our Constitution without taking on unacceptably high business risks. I joined SERCUL as a volunteer to assist in furthering the health of our environment, not to also manage a small business. I would like to thank those staff of the DBCA Rivers and Estuaries Branch with whom we work closely for their ongoing support; all the local governments in our sub-region for their support and commitment to their environmental responsibilities, particularly to our waterways. To Perth NRM for their support and all other agencies and organisations that we have worked with over the year – thank you. Thank you to Amy Krupa our CEO who has recently taken on that role and thank you to my Executive Committee for their time, in particular my deputy Stephen Johnston who has been of great assistance and whose support I greatly appreciate. I would finally like to thank most sincerely SERCUL’s amazing staff who go above and beyond their roles to further SERCUL’s objectives. Such is their commitment that many of them have volunteered to reduce their working hours to help balance our budget. Pat Hart Chairperson 4 EXECUTIVE MessAGES From the CEO - Amy Krupa The 2017-18 financial year has been challenging for the SERCUL Executive Committee and staff on a number of fronts. During the 2017-18 financial year some major staffing changes occurred at SERCUL which has shaped how we go about our business. Brett Kuhlmann, our previous CEO, resigned in November 2017 due to family reasons and Glen Byleveld, General Manager and Julie Robert, Special Projects Manager left the organisation around the same period to take up other opportunities. The loss of these three highly experienced managers was felt by the staff but this also provided an opportunity for staff members to step up and take on more responsibility in their areas which they did accordingly. This financial year also saw us implement a new accounting and payroll system and a complete overhaul of our Chart of Accounts. This was not an easy process that took many, many months to get right and I would like to say a big thank you to our Finance team of Monica Estrada, Jose Alcala and Farina Gandadjaja for all the hours they worked on this and their commitment to ensuring it was implemented correctly. This new accounting system and how we manage our income and expenses in the system showed us that we were not in the stable financial position that we thought we were in as is indicated in the Profit and Loss statement that is part of this annual report. This has led us to thoroughly review our overhead administrative costs to reduce them where possible, to some staff voluntarily reducing their hours to help save money in our largest expenses area, wages, and for our Environmental Services Unit to attract more fee for service work through tenders and requests for quote. To the staff that have volunteered to reduce their hours to help with our budget a huge thank you for your passion and commitment to keeping SERCUL financially viable. Matt Grimbly and Dan Friesen have also stepped up to the challenge of attracting more fee for service work for our Environmental Services Unit and for applying for major grants through our landcare program. After many sleepless nights and a lot of work by the Executive Committee and senior staff we are now heading in the right direction. Amazon frogbit, an aquatic weed, was also a priority during this financial year. Increased outbreaks of this weed occurred throughout the SERCUL region, and further afield around Perth, resulting in SERCUL hosting a stakeholder forum in partnership with the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development in June 2018 to have this weed declared as a pest organism. Amazon frogbit has recently been gazetted as a declared species under section 22(2) - no Control Category for the whole of the State. SERCUL were hoping that Amazon frogbit would be declared as a C3 - management category but as none of the State Government agencies were willing to take on the compliance of this level the no Control Category was the only option. We are heartened though that Amazon frogbit is now a declared species and we will be working over the coming years to implement an Amazon frogbit management, education and research project to highlight the impact of this threatening aquatic weed. Finally, I would like to say thank you to our Executive Committee for putting your faith in me to take on the role of Chief Executive Officer. While my first few months in this position have certainly not been easy, I have enjoyed the challenge and also greatly appreciate the unwavering support from the SERCUL staff. Amy Krupa Chief Executive Officer 5 STAFF and COMMITTEE STAFF EMPLOYED DURING 2017–18 Jose Alcala – HR Payroll and Administration Officer EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Daniel Barczi – Landcare Officer, ESU Chair: Pat Hart *Anneliese Bone – Landcare Officer, ESU (Oct 17) Deputy Chair: Stephen Johnston Natasha Bowden – Environmental Education Officer/ Education and Promotion Manager Treasurer: Max Houghton *Glen Byleveld – General Manager (Nov 17) Member: Marc Lane Caitlin Conway – Water Quality Officer/Volunteer Member: Kobi Bradshaw-Chen Coordinator Member: Marie Taylor Megan Crotty – Landcare Officer, ESU Monica Estrada – Business and Finance Manager Erin Farley – Environmental Education Officer Dan Friesen – Community and Grants Manager Farina Gandadjaja – Administration and Financial Assistant Matthew Grimbly – Environmental Services Unit Manager Amy Krupa – Education and Promotion Manager/Chief Executive Officer *Brett Kuhlmann – Chief Executive Officer (Nov 17) *Noratiah Larry – Work for the Dole Supervisor (Jan 18) John Maliunas – Landcare Officer and Precinct Manager Daniel Millea – Landcare and DNIP Officer *Catherine Morgan – Landcare Officer, ESU (Apr 18) Darren O’Brien – Landcare Officer, ESU Tarnisha Ogilvie – Booyi Program Coordinator Wilson Orjuela – Landcare Officer, ESU and OHS Officer Andy Owen – Landcare Officer, ESU *Tony Parrelli – Landcare